Unit 1: Scientific Founadation Of Psychology Flashcards
Our genetics determine our behavior. Our personality traits and abilities are in it
Nature
Our environment upbringing and life experiences determine our behavior, we are ___to behave in certain ways
Nurture
Studies show that we inherit some genes that are related to certain personality traits
Nature debate
Often identical twins grow up to have very different personalities and preferences
Nurture debate
Focus on genetic hormonal and neurological explanations of behavior
Approaches to psychology- Nature⬅️
Biological approach
Innate drives of sex and aggression (___). Social upbringing during childhood(___).
Approaches to psychology- Nature⬅️
Psychoanalysis
Innate mental structures such as schemes, perception and memory and constantly changes by the environment
Approaches to psychology-nature and nurture↔️
Cognitive psychology
Maslow emoji basic physical needs. Society influences a person’s self concept
Approaches to psychology- Nurture➡️
Humanism
All behavior is learned from the environment through conditioning
Approaches to psychology- nurture➡️
Behaviorism
• natural selection of adaptive traits
• genetic predispositions responding to environment
• brain mechanisms
• hormonal influences
Biological influences
↪️behavior or mental process
•Learned fears and other learned expectations
• emotional responses
• cognitive processing and perceptual interpretations
Psychological influences
↪️behavioral or mental process
• presence of others
• cultural, societal, and family expectations
• peer and other group influences
• compelling models( such as media)
Social-cultural influences
↪️ behavior or mental process
What are the main points of APA ethics code for research
Information concept, deception, protection form harm, freedom from coercion, privacy, debriefing, humane treatment of animals
Manipulation of independent variable under controlled conditions and measurement of its effects on a dependent variable
Research Method: experiment
Strength- can establish cause and effect relationships between IV and DV
Weakness- ability to generalize to real world behavior can be limited
Measurement of DV when random assignment to groups is not possible
Research method: quasi- experiment
Strength- can provide strong evidence suggesting cause and effect relationships
Weakness- lack of assignment can weaken conclusions
Carful observations of humans or other animals in real life situations
Research method: naturalistic observation
Strength- provides descriptive data about behavior with wide applicability
Weakness- loss of experimental control
Obtain large samples of abilities, beliefs, or behaviors at a specific time and place
Research method: survey and tests
Strength- ease of administration, scoring, and statistical analysis
Weakness- distorted results because of sampling error, poorly phrased questions, and response biases
Intensive investigation of the behavior and mental processes associated with a specific person or situation
Research method: case studies
Strength- provides detailed descriptions data and analysis of new, complex, or Rare phenomena
Weakness- may not be representative of phenomena
A group of participants are observed at intervals over an extended period of time
Longitudinal Method
Advantage- enables researchers to see how individuals change over time
Disadvantage- time consuming and expensive, participants may not be available for the duration of the study
Researchers compare differences and similarities among people in different age groups at a given time
Cross sectional method
Advantage- less time consuming than the longitudinal method for studying changes over time
Disadvantage- difference between the members of the sample cannot necessarily be attributed to age or development
Research based on the naturally occurring relationship between two or more variables
Used to make predictions such as the relation between SAT scores and success at college
Cannot be used to determine cause and effect
Asks: do the two variables vary together?
Research methods in psychology- correlational research
Experiments, causes and effects are what?
And what are they?
Cause: is manipulated and is an independent variable
Effect: is measured and is a dependent variable
What are some examples of independent variables in experimental research
Type of treatment: different drugs or psychological treatments
Treatment factors: brief bs long term treatment, inpatient bs outpatient treatment
Experimental manipulations: type of beverage consumed ( alcohol vs no alcohol)
What are some examples of dependent variables
Behavioral variables: adjustment, activity levels, eating, smoking
Physiological variables: physiological responses like heart rate, blood pressure, and brain activity
Self report variables, measures anxiety, mood, or marital, life satisfaction
What is 🙂😞🙁😒😃😔➡️🙂😞😃😔📝➡️🙂😃🔑➡️😞😔💉
Population: random selection➡️ sample: random assignment➡️ group: control or treatment
What are the three experiments
Laboratory, field, natural experiments
Type of environment: laboratory experiments
Artificial environment
Type of environment: field experiments
Natural environment but but not necessarily the participants own one
Type of environment: natural experiments
Participants own natural environment
Control of independent variables: laboratory experiments
IV is set up by the experimenter
Control of independent variable: field experiments
IV is set up by the experimenter
Control of independent variable: natural experiments
IV is naturally occurring and the experimenter has no control of it
Control of extraneous variables: laboratory
EV s can be effectively controlled
Control of extraneous variables: field experiments
Some control of EV s
Control of extraneous variables: natural experiments
No control of of EV s
Cause and effect, laboratory experiments
Good because the IV affects the DV and there are few if any EV’s
Cause and effect: field experiments
Moderate because there may be some EV’s
Cause and effect: natural experiments
Low because EV’s are inevitable
Demand characteristics: laboratory experiments
Lots of task is artificial and it is easy for participants to work out the aim
Demand characteristics: field experiments
Fewer as task is more natural but the participants know they are taking part in an experiment
Demand characteristics: natural experiments
None as participants are carrying out everyday tasks and are probably unaware they are taking part in an experiment
Ethical considerations: laboratory experiments
Easy to gain informed consent and give participants have the right to withdraw
Ethical considerations: field experiments
Easy to gain informed consent and give participants have the right to withdraw
Ethical considerations: natural experiments
Participants probably do not know they are taking part in an experiment and so informed consent and right to withdraw become serious concerns
What are the 4 descriptive statistics?
Organize
Summaries
Simplify
Describe and present data
What are the 3 inferential statistics?
Generalized from samples to populations
Hypothesis testing
Make predictions
In correlational coefficient, positive correlation two factors can be what?
Can be either two factors increasing or two factors decreasing, both go to the same direction
I’m correlational coefficient, a negative correlation has two variables that do what?
Negative correlation or inverse relationship has one variable that increases as the other decreases
What is the statistical significance in correlation coefficient?
It means your findings are not due to chance
Sample averages are reliable and the difference between the experimental and control group is relatively large
What are you looking for in in correlation study?
Correlation coefficient (r) is closer to +1 or -1, it should be above r>+.5 or r<-.5
What is a positively skewed distribution caused by?
Caused by an extremely high score in a frequency distribution. The low score our outlier causes a graph with a tail towards the right
What is a negatively skewed distribution caused by?
Caused by an extremely low score in a frequency distribution. The low score out outlier causes a graph with a tail towards the left
